Women of the Bible Challenge: Ruth

Chapter 1
Naomi- Went to live in Moab with her husband (Elimelech) and her two sons (Mahlan and Kilion) during a famine.
 *An Ephrathite from Bethlehem, Judah
 *Her husband died
 * Her sons married Orpah and Ruth
     -They were both Moabite women
 *Her sons died
 *Heard God came to aid of Judah and prepared with her daughters-in-law to return home
 *She releases her daughters-in-law back to their mother's homes and blesses them
   -They wept and said they'd go with her
*Orpah kissed Naomi good bye, but Ruth clung to her
*Ruth was determined to go with Naomi
*Naomi told her people to call her Mara (bitter)

Chapter 2
Ruth asked Naomi if she could go be the first to pick leftover barley so the men wouldn't bother her
     -Ruth works steadily from morning behind the harvesters with only a short rest
     -Boaz told her to go among the servant girls and he told the men not to touch her
     -invited to a meal with Boaz
     -she gleaned until evening
Ruth lived with Naomi and worked with the servant girls

Chapter 3
Naomi told Ruth to wash and perfume herself and lay at Boaz's feet with out him noticing
*Ruth obeyed
-Everyone knew Ruth was a woman of noble character

Chapter 4
Ruth became Boaz's wife
-She gave birth to a son (Obed-father of Jesse the father of David)

Basically Ruth was pretty selfless to turn down an opportunity to go back home and start a new life.  She stayed with her mother-in-law, moved to a foreign land, and tried her best to provide for the two of them even putting herself in potential harms way.  Her mother-in-law instructs her in how to win over Boaz in marriage, she obeys, marries and becomes a super great grandmother of none other but Jesus. 

Women of the Bible Challenge: Hosea

If you don't know what the Women of the Bible Challenge is click here.

I chose to do Hosea next, because I had read and fallen in love with Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers which was based off of Hosea.  How she wrote that book from this I understand, yet it completely blows my mind, but my interest was piqued.

Chapter 1
Gomer- Gomer is Hosea's adulteress wife whom God told him to marry.  She represents the land that continued to commit adultery by departing from God
     *she was the daughter of Diblaim
     *conceived and bore Hosea a son, Jezreel
     *conceived and birthed a daughter to Hosea, Lo-Ruhamah (means not loved)
         -God would no longer show love to the house of Israel
     *had another son, Lo-Ammi (my people)

Chapter 2
Adulteress wife=Israel
They keep going back to old ways

Chapter 3
Gomer committed adultery and God told Hosea to go take her back and love her
      -Hosea bought her back out of prostitution and took her home

Chapter 12 (v.6) But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always."

Wait for your God always.